Foymount, Ont. is the highest inhabited point in that province and not surprising made it home for RCAF Station Foymount during the cold war, as a "Pinetree Line" Radar base. Long closed, it's been used by various businesses over the years and looks pretty run down now...so much that it was used as a "Bosnian village" for a CBC movie on that conflict.

I never seem to have a camera with me, but it is a great stop in the middle of some great bike roads in the upper Ottawa Valley. You can ride up th the base of the old radar towers for a commanding view of the lakes and rivers of the surrounding countryside. http://www.mcelroy.ca/bushlog/20080416.shtml

No, for some years now the site has been owned by an energy company looking to set up a wind farm there. I'm not sure what the small windmill and the solar panels powered. But on my second visit to the site, the windmill had fallen off the roof of the radar tower and was lying smashed on the ground -- the metal mount had fatigued and broken. Given the small size of the windmill, I think it may actually have been more of a research instrument to measure the wind up there; the solar panel may have been to power a transmitter.

I haven't been up there in nearly three years now, so I have no idea what's changed since I posted the last set of pics in 2008.

--mark

Not much, still a great place for a solo and very solitary camp out...

Old thread, but since the last post is only a month old, I'll leave a couple of links to some great abandoned structure websites. the first is the be all end all of abandoned building pics sites. the second has some great pics of the chernobyl area - there's some question as to the veracity of the story, take it w/ a grain of salt - cool pics none the less.

After a five-year absence, I finally revisited the radar base this weekend.

The place is a lot busier these days. All three access gates were open (to my considerable surprise), and we crossed paths with several groups of people, most of them on ATVs. Luckily no one was up at the top while we were there.

Also, some buildings were accessible that on previous trips were not.

So, photos, starting with the cantonment area halfway up the mountain.

Garage interior, previously inaccessible. Note the work pit.

Lots of paper debris was lying around; note the date.

Dining hall interior.

Kitchen area; note the large hood.

Dining hall exterior.

Demolished quonset hut interior.

Lots of the buildings are in this sort of shape.

Rec hall interior.

The graffiti has been updated to more closely align with today's social climate.

Rec hall exterior.

Lots of moss and saplings growing out of seams in the tennis court.

After wandering around the lower area for a bit, we headed up to the actual radar towers at the top of the mountain.

One of the previously-inaccessible towers was open.

Tommy in the dark.

We climbed to the top of the tower, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. The visibility was amazing, and the view from up there is spectacular.

Access was via enclosed ladder.

Heading back down.

Interior of the tallest tower.

I could have happily set up a chair and just sat here for hours looking at the view.

I was surprised that not much has changed up there in the past five years. And I was REALLY surprised that the gates were open -- I don't know who owns this site now, but I'm kind of shocked that they're making no effort to dissuade people from visiting the place, if only for liability reasons. It's an easy place to get badly hurt or even killed.

But I was happy to see that this piece of our Cold War history has not been torn down, aside from the usual effects of wind, weather, and vandals.

My brother worked those Heavy Radar Domes for over 25 years for the Canadian Military/Air Force.Saw many of them while they were operational.Unfortunately the men who worked them have been prone to major health issues that were probably caused from them.Ralph served 30 years and passed away 6 months after retiring at 54.